TOWN HALL MEETING THIS THURSDAY



Since we last had the opportunity to check-in with each other and discuss those issues that are most important to the 7th District, a lot has happened in Washington, D.C., chief among them is the House and Senate passage of the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act." We are working on the final version of this critically important measure, and as we do, I hope that you will take some time to join me on Thursday evening and share your thoughts with me on this or any other piece of legislation.

Telephone Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, December 7th

7:00PM - 7:30PM

Dial-In: (877) 229-8493

Passcode: 17849





HOUSE PASSES SERIES OF BILLS MAKING GOVERNMENT MORE ACCOUNTABLE

As is often the case with Congress, good intentions can sometimes result in poor policy making. In one such case, federal employees are offered job protections which shield them from being unduly terminated, guaranteeing them job security regardless of the administration or their personal political affiliation. This is an important protection, and one that I know every Member of Congress supports. However, federal managers have found it increasingly difficult to dismiss poor-performing employees, and one of the reasons for that is a lack of adequate time during the probationary employment period to evaluate the employee’s work. H.R. 4182, the “Ensuring a Qualified Civil Service Act” would fix that. Rather than allowing a new hire to have only one year to prove themselves to a supervisor, new hires under this bill will be provided a two year probationary period after they have completed their training, giving them ample time to demonstrate their ability and allowing managers the opportunity to evaluate performance metrics before determining if the employee is a good fit for a permanent position on the civil service team. This will ensure that those who do work at our federal agencies are up to the task of serving the American people.

Another case of poor policy execution came to affect those seeking out loans to purchase manufactured housing. In response to the financial crisis in 2008, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, which included a provision to prevent consumers from accessing loans they may not be able to afford. But implementing a one-size-fits-all solution like this effectively shut out qualified potential homebuyers from the market. That is why my colleague, Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), introduced H.R. 1699, the “Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act.” The bill preserves essential protections for borrowers, while at the same time protecting their right to access credit.

I am proud to have supported both bills when they passed the House last week, and I’m pleased that my colleagues are continuing to take full advantage of the opportunity given to us by the American people to make our government more effective and more accountable.

Click on the picture below to watch my remarks on these important bills.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HOLDS FIELD HEARING ON OPIOID ABUSE

With over 64,000 Americans lost to drug overdoses last year, the opioid crisis has taken an especially devastating toll across our country, and has become a priority for the federal government, with President Trump assembling the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis earlier this year, and more recently declaring the opioid crisis as a public health emergency. Last week the President’s commission joined the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee at a field hearing in Baltimore, one of the many parts of our country that continues to battle our ongoing opioid crisis. At the hearing, Chairman of the Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ), presented the Commission’s detailed report with a number of policy recommendations, all of which you can read here. While the report contains dozens of recommendations, Governor Christie distilled it down to a three pronged approach: (1) preventing deadly drugs such as fentanyl from entering the U.S., (2) educating the medical community on the dangers of over prescribing opioids as well as the need for alternative therapies, and (3) providing better treatment for those already addicted to opioids.

We’ve all heard that the first step to battling addiction is admitting there is a problem, and I was encouraged to see the entire Committee come to a consensus on the scope and extent of our nation’s tragic problem with addiction. I commend both the Commission and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for their hard work and for going out to see this issue where it is truly affecting everyday Americans. I look forward to promoting the policies that result from hearings such as this one, and from reports, such as the Commission’s, that can make a difference for our loved ones and neighbors battling addiction.

SENATE PASSES TAX REFORM BILL

The Senate’s success in passing its version of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” marks another big step in making tax reform a reality for millions of taxpaying Americans. That said, I want to take this opportunity to commend my Senate counterparts for their work and diligence in crafting and passing their tax reform package. While the Senate bill differs from the House bill, there is still much work to be done and hours of debate left to be had to resolve the differences before we can send a final bill to the President for his signature.

As you may likely know, some of the notable differences between the two chambers include the tax treatment of state and local taxes, the elimination or modification of certain deductions, changes to the child tax credit, the number of individual tax rates, and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate just to name a few. Irrespective of these differences, which as I said before will continue to be worked out and debated, I am pleased that Congress’ overarching goal of simplifying the tax code and making it work better for as many Americans as possible is still an achievable goal.

That said, I know there are still anxieties out there, and I want to assure you that I’ve heard many of them from our friends and neighbors in the 7th District. As we move toward the next step in this process, I remain committed to working together, and I hope I can count on your counsel in the future.

GOVERNMENT AND CIVILIAN EXPERTS WORK TOGETHER TO SUPPORT SAFETY IN A GROWING DRONE INDUSTRY

On Wednesday, my colleagues and I on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee convened two panels of experts to discuss the rapidly growing drone industry. America has always been the world’s leader in aviation, and with this burgeoning new commercial industry, we have an opportunity to build on that record of safety, innovation, and success. Drones present a number of challenges, including questions of safety, privacy, and federalism, but this particular hearing was focused on the real-world applications of drone technology (specifically during the most recent hurricane season) and how we can construct a regulatory environment that promotes private sector innovation while maintaining world-class safety standards.

We began this work in the recent FAA bill, wherein we included new laws to safely integrate drones into our national airspace and establish remote identification to bolster security. The 2016 law also included legislation I authored to expedite the approval of drone operations in emergency recovery and restoration efforts – such as in the aftermath of a destructive hurricane, flood, or earthquake for instance. Close to one million Georgians lost power as a result of the recent hurricane, and we saw drones take flight to identify downed utility infrastructure, which led to quicker restoration of service right here in our own backyard. As we continue to work through these policy questions, I invite you to reach out with your own experiences and ideas.

CONGRATULATING FORSYTH COUNTY SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

I often say that our schools here at home provide every young person with the opportunity to be anything they want to be if they work hard and apply themselves. That’s true for academics certainly, but it goes well beyond that. The way in which our community empowers these young people to pursue their passions at the extracurricular level as well as in the classroom opens even more doors for them. As we saw last week with 60 Forsyth County high school students participating in early signing for athletic scholarships at the collegiate level, there’s an abundance of talent, and I’m sure proud of what each of them is accomplishing. Over the years I’ve been fortunate to visit with many students across the district, and I’m so impressed with their drive and work ethic. I have no doubt these young men and women fit into that category, and clearly their hard work is already paying off. Best of luck, and keep it up!

Forsyth County News. 60 county athletes sign athletic scholarships during early signing period

CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY SPIRIT IN FULL SWING

Every year, I look forward to the Christmas and holiday season, as it’s a time when we celebrate those things nearest and dearest to each of us. Part of the season’s traditions has become the wonderful young people that come by to visit the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center (GJAC) and share their talent with us. I have to say, whenever I’m able, I look forward to hearing these groups perform the timeless songs we all know. While business in Washington and throughout the Seventh District keeps the calendar full, any time I can be in our local office in the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center for these performances, it brightens my day. If you find yourself attending to business over the course of the next month and hear the sound of caroling, I encourage you to take a few extra minutes to listen. You won’t regret it!

Gwinnett Daily Post. Gwinnett school groups providing holiday music at GJAC in December

THE WEEK AHEAD

The House’s work week begins tonight with an important vote that will allow the House to go into a Conference Committee with the Senate to work out our differences on the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” I’ve said it all along, bringing tax reform to the President’s desk is a long process, and this is another step in that process that will hopefully be fulfilled before the end of this year.

The House is also expected to consider and pass two regulatory reduction bills that will spur economic growth through cutting red tape: H.R. 477, the “Small Business Mergers, Acquisitions, Sales, and Brokerage Simplification Act of 2017,” and H.R. 3971, the “Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017.” H.R. 477 would make it easier for hometown brokers to help small businesses to sell or merge without onerous federal regulations and registration requirements getting in the way. We know that hard-working small business men and women want to grow the economy, and one way to do that is to engage in mergers and acquisitions with other small businesses. The brokers that help them do that shouldn’t be overly burdened by federal regulations that are meant for large broker-deals making Wall Street level transactions, not Main Street level transactions. Similarly, H.R. 3971 would boost local economic growth by making it easier for small community banks and credit unions to engage in mortgage lending and servicing business without having to comply with the complicated and unnecessary regulations of the Dodd-Frank Act that are meant for large financial institutions with expansive mortgage portfolios. I look forward to sending both of these common-sense bills to the Senate soon, and hopefully, seeing them cross the President’s desk.

Sincerely,



Rob Woodall

Member of Congress